38. Goat Gonad Mania (Part 3)
Brinkley’s procedure became so popular, that his schedule became jam-packed. Patients began bringing their own goats, personally selected by them after observing their prowess, to implant their gonads in their testes. Although many patients came down with infections and quite a few died – in addition to inadequate medical training, Brinkley’s surgery was poorly sterilized, and he often operated drunk – Brinkley’s popularity kept growing. It increased after he put on a show for the press in 1920, during which he performed 34 goat testicle transplants. The press and public ate it up. He hired an advertising agent, who coined the phrase that Brinkley’s procedure turned hapless men into “The ram that am with every lamb“.
Brinkley was actually not unique back then: he had a rival, who specialized in transplanting monkey balls into men’s testicles. However, goat gonads caught on more than monkey balls, and as Brinkley’s fame grew, he widened the list of ailments cured by his procedure to include flatulence, dementia, and cancer. By 1922, he was a celebrity, and traveled to LA to perform a transplant on a Los Angeles Times editor. While in California, he made over $40,000 – serious money back then – from surgeries performed on Hollywood stars. Brinkley liked the West Coast so much, he decided to set up a practice there, complete with a goat farm. However, the California Medical Board denied him a license, after finding his resume was “riddled with lies and discrepancies“. Undaunted, Brinkley returned to Kansas, and expanded his Milford clinic.